Monster?
by Gia-is-hungry
Summary: When Tellidora Cristata from District 4 is pressured by her family into volunteering for the second Hunger Games she has to make a choice, her morals or her family? Is it better to live as a monster or die as a good person? Sequel to Mind Reader. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**So this is the start of the sequel to my story Mind Reader. If you haven't read it you should go find it and read it right about now. Well, you probably don't have to but it might help you make sense of some things. I'm not entirely sure where this whole thing is going but I guess we'll find out. Enjoy**

* * *

**Tellidora Cristata**

My goal in life is to be happy. The Capitol's goal in life is to make the Districts as miserable as possible. So far the Capitol is winning. Today is the day of the Reaping. Last year, Megan Melaleuca won. District 4 is eager for another winner. Especially the families like mine. Last year when Megan came home my dad started training me. He wants me to volunteer. He wants me to win and bring honor and glory to my family, to my district. Honestly, I'm not too thrilled with the idea. I don't want to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death with 23 other kids. I don't want to have to murder people to get home. I'm going to have to though, or risk being shunned by my family, disowned and thrown into the streets. I don't know if I could survive that. I haven't been trained for that. I have been trained for the Hunger Games though, giving me a much better chance than the other children. I can kill, I can win. I've been training like it's my career. I'm a career tribute.

I stride into the group of kids my age, the section roped off for seventeen year olds. I feel the stares. Everybody knows it's my turn to volunteer. My dad has a new job, training tributes. It's technically against the rules but no one seems to care. They don't care enough to stop me. A girl tribute is drawn, I volunteer. A boy tribute is drawn, and another 17 year old volunteers, Bryx Dunckeri. We shake hands. We already know each other of course. We were trained together. The grand master plan is to alliance ourselves with the strongest districts. Even if the officially dubbed, career alliance falls apart, Bryx and I are to remain allies until either one of us is dead or we're the last two left, that way District 4 has a really good chance of having a victor.

My family comes to visit me, hugging me, telling me to come home, but I am a rock, cold, strong and distant. I am unforgiving. It is their fault I have to do this. They leave but I catch my dad by his sleeve before he exits.

"Even if I live through this, I will never forgive you. And if I die, you will live knowing you sentenced your daughter to death. I hope that knowledge haunts you for the rest of your life." I say ruthlessly. He does not reply but I know he heard me. He walks through the door and my eyes never leave him, staring daggers into the back of his head until he's out of sight.

An escort takes me and Bryx to a car which we will ride in to the train station.

"You remember the plan, don't you Telli?" he says patronizingly. Ugh, I hate this kid. He talks to me like I'm five years old.

"Yes, I do remember the plan Bryx, because unlike you I haven't lost half my brain cells from being hit in the head so many times. Tell me, who was the first to give you collateral brain damage? Your darling mother?" This is a low blow; I know his mother used to beat him before he could beat back. She's an alcoholic. I also know his dad forced him into these games the same as me and we should be working together but if this condescending jerk can't play nice than why should I? He scowls and I guess it's supposed to be menacing. Aww, the poor dear thinks he's intimidating me, how cute. I smirk like I'm superior, just to make him mad. It works which is just fine because we're pulling into a station full of cameras and we need to look as deadly as possible.

I give the camera men my best glare as we make our way onto the tribute train. The train is fancier than anything I've ever seen. I have my own room. Our escort, Jewel, tells me to do whatever I want and be ready for dinner in an hour. I guess I'll take a shower.

I wipe the steam off the mirror. There's still 30 minutes left before dinner. I stare at myself. My skin is tan, like pretty much every body in District 4. I have a few freckles that sprinkle themselves across my slightly ski slope nose and high cheekbones. I lean close and look at my eyes. They are bright blue and almond shaped. I straighten and start to run a comb through my sun bleached blond hair. I put on some clothes I find in the dresser. Black shorts that end at mid-thigh, black socks and a black T-shirt.

Finally, it's time for dinner. Good, I'm starving. I sit down at a long carved wooden table with Bryx, my mentor Megan, her Capitol partner Smith, and our escort Jewel. The food is great, much better than the super high protein crap my dad had been feeding me. I eat my fill of the meal and then sit and watch everybody else.

"So Megan, you're supposed to tell us how to stay alive." I say. Everybody looks up surprised, except Megan. She's not surprised one bit, almost like she knew what I was going to say before I said it. There's something not quite right about that woman.

"Yes, and I intend to do that." She answers.

"Great so what's the best strategy at the Cornucopia-"I begin but she cuts me off.

"Don't get ahead of yourself."She says, "You two want alliances." It's not a question.

" We can go watch a recap of the Reapings and decide who you think you would want to team up with, but I'm warning you now, trust no one in that arena. If you do, you will inevitably get a knife in your back." She finishes.

"Okay, let's go." I say. Hey, I'm game. We go to another compartment to watch the Reapings. District 1 has volunteers too. The boy, Brent Juillet, is 18 and taller than Bryx at probably 6 feet even. The girl whose name is Emerald Vega walks like she's royalty. Flipping her golden curls over her shoulder and grinning like a beauty queen. Well sweetie, I bet you're not so pretty on the inside. District 2 turns out one career volunteer and one that was just the luck of the draw. The girl named Mica Shallow is picked but her partner is a strong handsome fellow that lunges forward to volunteer. His name is Eli Dasyatis. The rest of the tributes are nobody worth remembering to team up with. Except maybe Sackeya Peat, a huge girl from the lumber district. She could probably kill me just by sitting on me. I'll watch the tributes in training just to make sure but for now I won't worry about it.

"I say District 1 and 2. Those tributes looked strong plus they pretty much dominated last year." Butts in Bryx before I can say anything. I scowl at him and he smirks looking pleased with himself.

"What do you think, Tellidora?" Megan asks me. Now it's my turn to smirk.

"I agree, but that girl from 7 also looks like she could be of some help." Megan nods in approval. Ha, she likes me better.

"Okay, so tomorrow you will be turned over to your stylists. You probably won't like what they do but don't fight it." She tells us.

"Okay."Bryx and I say at the same time, I glare at him. He's vying for her attention. It's common sense that whoever she likes best is who she'll help more in the arena and whoever gets the most help has the better chance of coming home. He won't out-do me. I won't let it happen. My mind abandons it's logic chain as I go back to my room. I put on some silky cloud patterned pajamas and slide into the covers. The bed is impossibly soft and I am asleep within 10 minutes.

* * *

**You know the drill, tell me what you think by pressing that lovely little review button. =]  
**


	2. Before the Games Begin

**So, I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I was away for a week and then I got back and was just lazy with my writing. Forgive me! **

* * *

"Wake up! Up! Up! Up!" Jewel trills outside my door at 6:30 in the morning.

"Breakfast in ten!"she says. That high pitched voice of hers is seriously grating on my nerves. She had better keep an eye on those kitchen knives at breakfast if she wants to leave with all her appendages. I'm so not in the mood for a chipper morning person. I brush my teeth, wash my face and get dressed, pulling my hair into a ponytail as I walk out the door.

I sit down at the table and pour myself a glass of orange juice. I wait until everybody is seated before I start spreading butter on my bagel. Bryx is tapping his hands on the surface of the table.

"Could you please stop that?" I say through my teeth. He grins.

"Morning, Sunshine. How are you doing at this lovely hour?" he says in a mock polite voice, I'm guessing he's not a fan of toothpaste. Charming.

"Just Peachy, dog breath." I quip. He frowns. I smile angelically. Megan suppresses laughter.

We pull into the station at around 9 am and are then escorted to our prep teams. They chatter incessantly as they rid me of my body hair. By the time they're finished with me, my skin is soft and glowing and my previously damaged hair feels like silk and shines like the sun. I don't think I've ever been cleaner in my life.

I'm finally allowed to meet my stylist. It's not the same one as last year. She got re-assigned. Instead I'm faced with a short plump woman in neon pink high heels and a silver mini dress. Now if that doesn't say classy, I don't know what does.

"Come here, dahhling." She drawls. She makes me take off my robe then circles me like a shark, nodding in what I assume is approval.

"You have a good body." she says, "I say we go for sexy."

"Um, what are you smoking?" I reply. She looks at me sharply than giggles.

"Silly, girl. Nothing. That would wreck my complexion." Oh, jeez. I'm done for.

Sure enough she has me dressed in some sparkly blue dress cut down to there, with ruffles at the bottom that end above my knees. My hair is curled and a tiara is placed on my head. I feel ridiculous.

"What exactly am I supposed to be?" I ask.

"Queen of the Ocean. Duh." Says my stylist whose name I've learned is Connie. I've officially dubbed her Connie the Cow.

"And Bryx will be King Neptune!" she squeaks imperiously. How someone can have such a squeaky high pitched voice and still manage to use an 'I'm-the-boss-and-I-know-better-than-you-so-shut-up-and-like-it' tone, I will never know. Luckily my mother taught me how to walk in heels so I make it down to the carriages in my stilettos without falling on my face. Bryx stares at my plunging neck line.

"Hello? I'm up here." I wave my hand in front of his face.

"So you decided to look good for a change." He says in some sort of backwards compliment.

"You can pick your jaw up off the floor now." I say before climbing into the carriage.

We're paraded around in a circle. The Capitol citizens shout names. Our names, some of them. Well, thanks. Good to know you care and all but I hardly appreciate it. I'm not going to pretend to love people that are screaming for my blood as much as my victory. I hold myself above it all. Stony. Dangerous. Unforgiving.

The next 3 days are dedicated to training. Bryx and I show up impossibly early on the first day but we aren't the only ones. Districts 1 and 2 are there also. We wait around until all the tributes show up and listen to instructions before we're free to go to all the stations. I don't start immediately, watching the others before I head to the knife throwing station. You'd think that being from the fishing district I'd be good at tridents, spears, nets and harpoon guns and I am, but knife throwing is my true talent. I never miss. I can throw a knife through the eye of any person not to mention dummy. At lunch Bryx and I sit with District 1.

"Wanna be allies?"I ask, getting directly to the point. They agree of course. Now we have to ask District 2, I'm voted to do the talking because apparently the District 2 boy tribute had been eyeing me during training. Creeper.

"Hey, Eli, Mica." They turn towards me when they hear me call their names.

"We wanted to know if you would want to be part of our alliance with District 1." I say.

"I'm in." replies Mica not even glancing at her partner. He looks me up and down. Ahem, weird.

"Sure, for a pretty girl like you."he says. Ugh, he probably thinks he's charming. Is this how he fishes for a girlfriend? Sorry, buddy I'm not biting.

I smile sweetly, "And I bet you say that to all the girls, come on Casanova. We're eating over here." I walk away, satisfied to hear their footsteps behind me.

I sit down at the table with my newly assembled kill team and of course Eli sits right next to me. I'm thrilled, really. Not. Bryx is on the other side of me. I just have the best luck.

We immediately start strategizing. First we have to find out what everybody is good at. Brent from District 1 looks at me with an air of someone who has just been appointed emperor. I guess, I can let him pretend he's in charge, for now at least.

"So Telli, you good at anything besides throwing knives?" he asks. I almost glare at Bryx who must have told him to call me that but I don't want him to know he bothers me.

"I'm from the fishing District. I can swim, make nets, spear stuff, throw tridents, and shoot a harpoon gun but even Bryx can do all that. Everybody in District 4 can. I can run fast." I say and shrug, "What can you do?"

Turns out, Brent is really good at hand to hand combat, especially with a sword. Shocker.

"How about you, princess?" I ask his District partner, Emerald. She scowls at me before she answers.

"I can fight" she says," And I'm particularly handy with a mace."

"Good to know. Mica?" I turn my head towards District 2's female tribute sitting diagonal from me.

"I'm good with edible plants, camouflage, and spears." She answers promptly pushing her dark hair behind her ear as she speaks.

"What are you good at, Eli?" I ask.

"Fighting, killing, hand to hand combat."

"Okaaay. Bryx you wanna tell them about your awesome survival skills?" I mock. I shouldn't have given him an opening. He proceeds to tell them everything he thinks he's good at, in detail, with cute little anecdotes. I think I might puke.

By the end of the day I am so completely ready for bed. We spent the rest of training after lunch showing off. Tomorrow I plan to learn some new stuff that could be useful.

The next day I tell the rest of my alliance that I want to learn some new things. Of course the only one who wants to join me is Eli. He's either smart like I am and this is his survival strategy or he has a pathetic crush and is stalking me. I spend the rest of the day learning about edible plants and camouflage. I know Mica is already good at this but there's no telling what will happen in the games. I don't know how long we'll be able to use her before she dies and I have to fend for myself. Last year, the career alliance turned on each other if that happens again I want every edge possible.

I can't seem to shake Eli. It's like he's attached to my hip and he's determined to get to know me. It's incredibly annoying.

"So what's your favorite color?"

"Orange." I answer as I attempt to paint myself into a tree.

"What's your family like?" he asks. I'm beginning to think he's trying to distract me.

"Does it really matter?" I say.

"I don't know." He says and begins another question. I interrupt him,

"Hey Eli, how about you be quiet now. I'm trying to learn how to camouflage."

"Yeah but Mica can do that." He objects.

"I don't care. I want to know how to do it." I tell him. He smirks,

"I like a woman who's independent."

"Uh huh." I say trying my hardest to ignore him.

Lunch time! AKA as time to discuss a Cornucopia strategy. So far the plan is for me to run in (since I run the fastest) to the Cornucopia and grab knives then use them to kill the other tributes while I wait for the rest of my alliance to get to the Cornucopia and get their weapons. Our plan is simple to be polite about it. Nothing genius. There's really no way we can be since we know nothing about the arena. Just kill. The sooner everybody is dead, the sooner I get to go home.

I walk into District 4's temporary living quarters and find Megan waiting for me and Bryx.

"Tomorrow is the third day of training. The day you get a private session with the judges to show them what you're made of." She says ominously. I'm not going to lie, she's a little freaky.

"What are you two planning on doing?" she asks. I shrug.

"I was going to throw some knives, maybe sprint." I tell her.

"I was going to spear some things, throw tridents, you know." Puts in Bryx.

"How are you two at climbing mangroves?" she asks

"I'm good, I've been climbing them my whole life. I live right near them." I inform her. Bryx nods.

"Okay you two might want to show them how well you climb." She says, nodding her head as if she's listening to someone besides us talk.

"What do you know?" I ask suspiciously.

"Nothing. Just last year I showed them how well I climb and it helped." She says trying to reassure me, but she's lying, I can tell.

"Okay." I say simply and leave.

I sit in the cafeteria waiting. Bryx was just called into the Gamemakers for his private session. I sit up straight and try to look confident. It's not hard considering I'm not really nervous. I don't care what the Gamemakers think. I hate them. If I had a choice in who I would be able to kill I'd pick them, not my fellow tributes. They don't deserve this, the Gamemakers do.

"Tellidora Cristata" I stand and walk strongly and confidently through the door. The Gamemakers are sitting in rows with clipboards. I grab some knives and walk over to the target. I hit the bull's-eye then pull it out and throw it again from farther away. Then I throw one, splitting the rope of a hanging dummy. I don't stop throwing knives at the other dummies until each one has a knife through its eye. I move to the rock wall and climb it quickly then climb back down. I ask for someone to time me and then I sprint. Finally my time is up and they tell me I can go.

Well I guess it could have gone worse. I lounge around my room waiting for dinner. After we eat we get to see our scores. I get a 10, Bryx gets a 9. Hah, I win. You know, I never noticed how competitive I am till I was forced to compete in these Games.

Gray light streams through my curtains as I wake up to Jewel pounding on my door. Oh perfect, today I'm trained for my interview. They want to make sure I know how to act in public. At breakfast I'm told that I will work with Megan first to decide my interview angle, and then Jewel will teach me how to act like a lady.

I walk into a room that's empty except for two chairs, one of which Megan is already sitting in.

"Hi." I say before sitting down.

"Hey, Tellidora." She greets me, it's kind of weird that she's supposed to be like my boss but she's a year younger than me.

"So have you thought of an angle for your interview?" she asks

"Um no. I was just going to be myself." I say hesitantly.

"You need something to get you sponsors."

"Oh. Maybe we could try sarcastic."

"Okay. I'll ask you some questions and you answer them as sarcastically as you can."

"Okay."

"Why did you volunteer for the Hunger Games?"

"I've just always wanted to murder 23 children in order to become rich and famous." I say bitterly. Megan smiles wryly.

"What most impresses you about the Capitol?"

"Everybody here is just so friendly. I can hardly tell how anxious they are for my gruesome bloody death." I say, falsely chipper.

"Do you have a boyfriend back home?"

"Nuh uh. Nope. I much prefer fish."

"That's not so much sarcastic as it is ridiculous." Megan says trying to suppress a chuckle.

"Well it works for me. I think I'll just mess with Mr. Lancaster as much a possible." I tell her, grinning. She smiles back.

"I'm okay with that." Megan agrees. We hang around for a while before Jewel summons me, yes summons, for my session with her.

Hours of walking in a dress, sitting in a dress, smiling in a dress and talking in a dress have gotten me seriously sick of dresses. And just when I'm released from my personal dress hell, the devil decides to move me up a misery level.

Connie the Cow is his torture device of choice. She dresses me in a floor length, dark blue, sparkling dress showcasing major cleavage of course. Eli will be drooling; I'm beginning to think the world is conspiring against me. I'm given a pearl necklace to wear with matching drop earrings, which they have to pierce my ears for. Apparently clip-on's aren't good enough. It's lucky I have a high pain tolerance. My hair is curled and my eyes are lined with dark blue eyeliner and eye shadow, coupled with glossy nude lips the overall affect is quite dynamic.

I sit in my chair on the stage like a lady, the way I've been taught. The other girls in my career alliance are doing the same thing. Their angles are all pretty boring. I hope my interview stands out between all the charming, witty, fierce and sexy contestants. I bet nobody decided to do ridiculous. At last my name is called and I walk up on stage among cheering.

"Good Evening, Miss Cristata." Says Charlie.

"Oh please, call me Telli." I say.

"Well Telli, can you Telli us why you volunteered for the Hunger Games?" he asks me while chuckling at his own lame word play. I shrug my shoulders and grin cheekily,

"It was always my dream to brutally murder 23 children. I guess you could even say it's my career." He looks like he doesn't know quite what to think about my answer.

"How does your family feel about you volunteering?" he asks trying to smooth over my sticky answer.

"Oh they're thrilled. I come from a particularly bloodthirsty family tree." I say nodding.

"Lovely, and what has most impressed you about the Capitol so far?"

"Oh definitely the Capitol citizens. You guys are so friendly, I can almost forget that you're eagerly anticipating the mass murder of 23 innocent children." I smile winningly.

"Do you miss your District?"

"Duh."

"Do you think you'll make it back?"

"Oh yeah. Mmhmm. I'm not choosing my morality over my life. That's crazy." I tell him.

"Do you have anyone waiting for you at home?" he asks. I put on my most charming facial expression.

"Just the fish." I say seriously.

"Well, best of luck to District 4's Tellidora Cristata." He says as the buzzer rings. He's so glad to be rid of me. I nod and smile before making my way back to my seat where I sit for the next couple of hours, one thought chasing itself in circles around my brain. I'm going into the arena tomorrow; I could die. I could die. I. Could. Die.

* * *

**Did you like it? Was there something I should of done differently? Anything I can do to make it better? Let me know by reviewing. Reviews inspire me to write more, you know.**


End file.
